As the sun rose over the Bay, Director Piggot looked at the assembled capes and officers in the room with her. Some of them had been dragged out of bed by emergency calls as the PRT prepared to respond to what was possibly the greatest opportunity that had landed on their laps since Piggot had arrived in Brockton Bay.
"You have all already been told what happened last night," she began without preamble, "but for those of you who're still waking up, the new cape known as Lasombra faced and defeated both Lung and Oni Lee last night.
"His Stranger ability, combined with the location of the fight, mean that we don't have any clear footage of what happened. According to the testimonies of the women rescued from the building, Lasombra just appeared inside, knocked an ABB thug about to … 'initiate' a newly kidnapped woman into her new life, and proceeded to go through the building punching everyone unconscious until he crossed paths with Lung."
She forced the anger she felt from talking about something like this down – this wasn't the time for it.
"Both ABB capes are on their way to the Birdcage," she continued. "We were lucky enough that Dragon had an available transport nearby which could be redirected to the Rig and pick them up. While Lung's healing factor means that he will have recovered from his injuries by the time Dragon drops him down the one-way elevator, we asked Panacea to heal Lee's broken limbs before loading him up in the transport, as otherwise we might as well just put a bullet in his head and call it a day."
New Wave's prodigy healer hadn't been happy about being called out of the hospital where she'd been working in the middle of the night (Piggot had made a note to see what that was about later : all parahumans were driven to use their powers, but Panacea needed sleep just like the rest of them mere mortals, and she was far too important to let her burn herself out) to heal a notorious murderer, but that wasn't anything unexpected. Truth be told, Piggot herself wouldn't have any issue with just killing Lee, but protocols and regulations had to be followed, and one of them was that the PRT didn't execute prisoners.
And there was no point sending people to the Birdcage if they were just going to die immediately upon arrival due to being unable to defend themselves from the other inmates. Personally, Piggot was of the opinion that the whole thing was pointless and Birdcaged villains should be given the mercy of a clean death instead of throwing them into an inescapable hole that cost an obscene amount of resources to upkeep (and was only possible in the first place because of Dragon's constant work on the facility, when the Tinker presumably had many other, better things to spend her time on). But that level of decision-making was well above her head.
"Needless to say, while this is great news, it has also dumped a lot of work on our shoulders, and I'll be relying on each and every one of you to deal with the situation in the coming days. To start with, is there anything the BBPD wants to tell us about the women who were rescued from that building ?" asked Piggot.
"They are in various states of trauma, obviously," replied Renick, who was their point of contact with Brockton Bay's chronically overworked, underfunded and outgunned police department. "The one who first saw Lasombra had been taken off the street only a few hours ago, and she'll need psychological help to deal with the events. As for the others, several of them were victims of human trafficking across state lines. The FBI has been called in to investigate, see if they can use the information to go up the chain and get at the rest of the trafficking ring."
Meaning that the E88's moles within the local police force wouldn't be able to interfere, and would be forced to do their job properly by the threat of the feds finding out if they didn't. Good.
"There have also already been several reported internal conflicts between members of the ABB," the Deputy Director continued. "The BBPD has deployed units across Lung's former territory to act on intelligence they acquired before last night, but were unable to use due to fear of Lung's reaction. They're asking for PRT support in case the Empire decides to take advantage of the situation."
Which they almost definitely would, like the opportunist scavengers they were.
"They'll get it," Piggot promised. "Speed is of the essence if we're to make the best of this situation, and with the threat of the E88 sending their own capes, we've got justification to intervene. New Wave has already contacted me to offer their support."
There was more at stake than arresting the ABB thugs now that they didn't have Lung's protection. The brothel Lasombra had liberated was unfortunately far from being the only one in the city, and they needed to act quick, before the remaining ABB members decided to cut their losses and kill their captives in order to silence them before running for the hills.
They discussed the practicalities of their response for another twenty minutes, then Piggot adjourned the meeting and let her people get to work, except for Armsmaster and Miss Militia, who stayed behind at her request. Once the doors were closed and the three of them were alone, the Director declared :
"I think it's clear that after the events of last night, we need to increase Lasombra's rating. If he can go toe-to-toe with Lung, then clearly, his Brute rating is higher than we thought."
"Yes, but by how much is a matter of debate," said Armsmaster. "Lung was taken down before he could reach the heights of size and strength he did when we all fought him together, to say nothing of his recorded maximum size."
Footage of the Endbringer fights was rare for obvious reasons – capes were too busy desperately trying to survive and drive the attacking monster off to think about recording videos – but as Director of the ENE branch of the PRT, Piggot was privy to the reports of the Sinking of Kyushu. At his Leviathan-fighting top, Lung had been classified as Brute 9, but – thankfully – he'd never reached those heights of power again. When fighting the entire Protectorate branch of the ENE, he'd been dangerously close to it, which was why the heroes had been forced to withdraw.
"So, Brute 6-7 ?" she suggested. The two capes nodded, and Piggot made a note on her tablet.
"Then there's his combat Thinker power," she continued. "Fighting Lung and Oni Lee in the middle of the city without any civilian casualty isn't something anyone could achieve with just brute strength."
"Also, Lung was well aware of his power's drawbacks," Miss Militia pointed out. "He knew how to account for them and buy himself enough time to grow. Yet Lasombra managed to defeat him before he could become unmanageable."
"Thinker 6, I think," said Armsmaster. "Especially with how Lasombra was able to take down Oni Lee despite his random teleportation."
"What do we classify his use of shadow tentacles as ?" asked Piggot. "Shaker or Blaster ?"
"Shaker, I think, at least until we have more data," said Armsmaster. "Judging by the traces of Oni Lee's grenade explosions, he didn't go far before Lasombra neutralized him. And with the speed at which we know Oni Lee is capable of teleporting, anything capable of catching up to him is best considered area-of-effect."
The lack of video footage made it difficult to properly evaluate Lasombra's capabilities. There were few eyewitnesses to the fight, and those who had seen it were reluctant to speak with authority figures.
"The effect he used to smother Lung's flames also indicate a Shaker power," added Miss Militia. "And he was able to use them to break Oni Lee's limbs, so I'd say Shaker 4 ?"
"Alright. Now for the big question," said Piggot, looking around at everyone in turn. "If we need to, how do we take him ?"
The mood in the room immediately went down, which was understandable. Nobody enjoyed talking about it, but it was part of their job. Lasombra might have acted like a hero so far, but capes had turned bad before. Even if it wasn't willingly, there was the possibility of blackmail, or of being Mastered by a villain. Even the capes of the Protectorate had a file written down somewhere describing how to take them down should it become necessary.
If nothing else, thinking about ways to counter various powers helped sharpen their skills for when they faced a new enemy cape.
"Twice now," Armsmaster began, "Lasombra has disappeared after a single intervention. His appearance last night lasted much longer than his first, but given that he took on Lung and won, I find it hard to believe that he would willingly limit himself to intervening in a single mugging on his first night out, unless he had no choice in the matter."
"You think his Changer form has a time limit ?" asked Miss Militia.
"It's only a theory," Armsmaster admitted. "But very few capes have as wide an array of powers as Lasombra has shown without some drawback or limitation. A time limit would make sense from that perspective. But even if that is the case, his Mover power makes capture difficult. Lung's fire seems to have been barely an inconvenience to him, given that he appeared completely unharmed when Velocity arrived on the scene."
"If Lasombra could take Lung's fire head-on, then anything that can harm him will be lethal by necessity," Miss Militia grimaced. "I don't know about you, Colin, but I don't feel comfortable bringing that kind of ordinance to bear."
"We'll only do so if it is absolutely required," Piggot insisted. "Lasombra has done a great service to this city by removing Lung and Oni Lee from the board, and even if he doesn't want to join the Protectorate, he has been willing to work with us. Armsmaster, please draft a proposal of the methods you think might work to subdue him in case he goes rogue."
She was really hoping it wouldn't happen, of course, but in the age of parahumans, there was no such thing as being too cautious.
"Yes, Director," the hero nodded. "May I share our data with Dragon ? I think her help would be invaluable in designing counter-measures."
"If you think that's necessary," Piggot agreed. Usually, sharing intel with someone outside the ENE would be frowned upon, but if you couldn't trust Dragon, then who could you trust ?
Topic : Lung & Oni Lee arrested – the end of the ABB ?
Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Posted On Jan 9th 2011 :
Well, folks, I never really thought I'd see the day, and yet, here we are.
Last night, Lung met with the Bay's newest cape, Lasombra (link here for his thread). Now, usually this would be where I tell you about another independent hero's career being tragically cut short … except, Lasombra won the fight, bringing the infamous supervillain down after a short but intense fight deep within ABB territory.
Details on how Lasombra ended up crossing paths with Lung are still blurry, but it seems Lasombra didn't approve of the ABB's … let's say 'forceful recruitment practices'. The two of them ended up fighting in front of one of the gang's brothels, doing quite a number on the poor street in the process (see here for images of the aftermath), but so far nobody seems to have been caught in the crossfire, which is certainly a pleasant surprise considering the kind of collateral damage that used to follow Lung's fights.
And then, when Oni Lee popped in to rescue his boss, Lasombra proceeded to break all four of the teleporting bomber's limbs before leaving him and Lung for the PRT to take, showing off several new abilities in the process (as a reminder, theorizing about a cape's power should be done on the cape's dedicated thread – this thread is solely to discuss last night's event).
With both of the ABB's capes taken out at the same time, the odds of them being rescued before being Birdcaged are very low. The BBPD are moving into the ABB's territory now that they don't have to worry about being turned into charcoal by the rage dragon, and at time of writing, things seem to be going well.
As for Lasombra ? He left soon after Velocity's arrival on the scene, and hasn't been seen since.
EDIT : wow, it didn't take long for the ABB to collapse without Lung. There have already been reports of firefights between gang members who used to belong to different groups before Lung forced them together. I guess it's true what they say about a rule by fear being built on sand.
Rightsector
Replied On Jan 9th 2011 :
Wow. That's some quick escalation for a new cape. Lung was … Lung, you know ? Going from punching a bunch of muggers to fighting the Dragon of Kyushu is quite the upgrade.
Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011 :
On the one hand, good God am I glad Lung is gone. On the other, I'm worried what it means for the city.
Letes
Replied On Jan 9th 2011 :
What's the problem ? Lasombra helped rescue a bunch of women from sexual slavery, and the police are going to be able to free a lot more now that Lung's out of the picture. I'm not in Brockton Bay, but how is this not an absolute win for the good guys ?
Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011 :
I'm not complaining about Lung going away or these poor women being rescued. I'm worried about what the Empire will do now that he is gone. For all his many, many, MANY crimes, nobody can deny that Lung's presence kept the Nazis from taking over the Bay's criminal underworld. Now, who's left to stop him ? The Merchants ? These morons couldn't stop a rat from stealing their coke.
Letes
Replied On Jan 9th 2011 :
Brocktonite03 I guess I can see where you're coming from. Hopefully the Protectorate will do something about it – and if they don't, then maybe Lasombra ? He dealt with a bunch of E88 thugs on his first known appearance, after all.
Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Jan 9th 2011 :
I sure hope so. Being free from the rage dragon is nice, but if it means the Nazis take over instead … Course, not doing anything and letting the status quo strangle the city wasn't helping either.
I frowned as I continued reading through the thread. It had many more pages : despite restricting his activities to Brockton Bay for years, Lung had been famous world-wide as the cape who had stood up to Leviathan during the sinking of Kyushu. There'd been a lot of people who'd hoped he would fight the Endbringers again, and a lot of speculation that the reason Alexandria hadn't come to Brockton Bay to toss him into the Birdcage was because of that hope.
Personally, I thought it more likely that the Protectorate had been leery of the potential for collateral damage such a confrontation would have entailed. After all, they had sent Lung to the Birdcage the moment they'd gotten their hands on him.
Some commenters were sceptical that a single, unknown cape had managed to defeat Lung and Oni Lee, and believed that the Protectorate had been involved somehow. But they were being shouted down by other posters, who pointed out that the organization had a long history of not sharing credit with independents when it could get away with it – which only started a brief flame war as debate over whether this was true and the Protectorate hoped to recruit Lasombra and didn't want to piss him off, or they were merely being honest and truthful, like heroes were supposed to be.
After a couple of pages, Tinmother had come down with the banhammer, forcing the worst offenders to spend a few hours cooling off and bringing the thread back on track. The survivors of the purge were all posting on the assumption that the announcement was truthful and Lasombra had been the one to defeat the two ABB capes.
It was somewhat amusing, as was the wild speculation on the nature of my power and what levels the PRT had assigned them. I'd gotten used to seeing drama on PHO, but it was the first time it was about me, or at least my projection's alter ego.
Still, my train of thought kept returning to that exchange between Letes and Brocktonite03.
They had a good point. Everyone Brocktonite who didn't deliberately try to ignore reality was aware of the delicate balance of powers between the gangs : it was the reason neither the Empire nor the ABB had destroyed the Merchants. Even though both gangs had the resources to do so, doing so would have weakened them and left them vulnerable to either the other or the Protectorate.
At least that was the case for the Empire : in Lung's case, I was almost sure he'd just been too lazy to do it, as he could probably have scorched the lairs of the Merchants in one lazy afternoon. Or maybe it was because as long as Skidmark's gang existed, the members of the ABB could lie to themselves that they weren't that bad – at least they weren't the Merchants.
Fear of Lung's retribution had kept the Empire out of the districts populated by the city's Asian minorities. They hadn't been safe by any means : most of the women who'd been rescued from the ABB's brothels since the removal of their leadership had been of Asian descent. Lung had preyed upon the very people he'd claimed to be protecting, and I didn't regret taking him down in the slightest.
But it was true that the removal of the ABB had left the Empire Eighty-Eight without their biggest opposition. Hopefully the Protectorate would be able to focus their efforts on them now that the threat of a giant rage dragon rampaging through the city was gone, but in the meantime, it was my responsibility to clean up the mess I had a hand in creating. Especially since the Empire was apparently using the story of Shadow Stalker's abusing another girl at her school (which had mysteriously leaked on several news channels with suspiciously sympathetic coverage of the E88's activities) to drum up support.
I absolutely refused to let the bastards use my Trigger Event to their advantage. Sure, I'd beaten up a few of their thugs on my first night out, before I'd realized it wasn't a dream, but on the whole, they probably had benefited from Lasombra's existence. And that was unacceptable.
I knew, vaguely, which parts of town were considered to be E88 territory. Presumably my power would guide my projection there at some point : the Abyss appeared to be connected to the real world where acts of evil were taking place, and there were few people who did more evil than a bunch of Neo-Nazis and white supremacists – but I repeated myself.
Even assuming finding the Empire wasn't an issue (which was a big assumption), I couldn't be certain that a fight would go to my advantage. Lung needed time to ramp up; presumably, Kaiser didn't have such limitations, and could go all-out right from the moment he realized Lasombra was in the room with him. The Empire also had a lot of capes, and a lot more manpower than the ABB. With the time limit on how long I could keep manifesting Lasombra, they could simply drown me in numbers (I immediately discarded the obvious solution, killing their unpowered thugs until the rest stopped being so willing to sacrifice themselves for the 'cause').
And even if I found and beat him, removing Kaiser from the equation wouldn't make the organization collapse : it had already lost its leader when Allfather died, and only grown stronger since. Removing the stain of Nazism from the city would be a lot more complicated than just punching the right supervillain unconscious and handing him over to the authorities.
Also, since unlike Lung and Oni Lee, Kaiser wasn't bound to the Birdcage, it stood to reason that the rest of the E88 would try to free him, as they'd had several times before when their capes had been captured by the Protectorate. With the advantage of numbers on their side, they were all but guaranteed to succeed, too – and since prison transports took place during the day, I wouldn't be able to send Lasombra to assist.
As it turned out, a fifteen years-old girl with a strong superpower couldn't single-handedly solve decades of crime in her home town with a snap of her fingers. Comic books had lied to me, surprise, surprise.
Not for the first time, I considered simply going to the Protectorate and revealing my identity. Having a team at my back could only help, to say nothing of the resources of the PRT. Rescue operations would be much easier with a team of heroes and a squad or two of PRT troopers to assist. And after years of fighting the Empire, they would have a lot more information available than what I could scrounge from the Internet.
However, the very thought of putting myself under the control of an organization that had counted the likes of Sophia Hess in its ranks made me shiver with revulsion. I knew, objectively speaking, that the rest of the Protectorate wasn't to blame for the actions of one psychopath and her enabler, and that the moment they'd learned about what was going on, the full force of the law had fallen on Sophia like a ton of bricks. But my emotions weren't so easily swayed, and there was a part of me that rejected the idea of putting me under anyone's authority ever again.
Besides, as a minor, the Protectorate would put me in the Wards if I decided to join. Teenage drama aside (which wasn't nearly as minor a factor on my decision as I'd like), I had read on the regulations, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to do anywhere near as much good as I'd already done as a Ward.
Also, I couldn't go out on patrols as myself, since my power required me to be unconscious, and while the image of Lasombra going out on the Boardwalk to sign autographs and to schools to do anti-drugs PSA was hilarious, it would also be a terrible waste of my potential. Especially since I had a time limit on how long I could maintain my projection : spending it on PR stuff would be a tremendous waste.
Communicating with the PRT and the Protectorate outside of meeting after Lasombra had punched someone unconscious could be useful, however. I went on PHO's main page and checked the requirements to get a verified cape account. Unfortunately, one of them was sending a video showing power usage, which wasn't something I could so, since according to Lasombra's thread, my projection messed with every recording device that had been pointed in his direction so far.
Maybe I could buy a mobile phone ? Except, since I didn't control where Lasombra showed up, having him pick it up before going out would be difficult. Which reminded me that I really needed to figure out what exactly the rules of my parahuman ability were : I had gotten obscenely lucky against Lung and Oni Lee. I couldn't keep throwing my projection into dangerous situations and rely on pulling powers out of nowhere to win.
Even just getting a better hang of my projection's manifestation would be a big step up. After Lasombra's disappearance, I'd gone straight into sleep without waking up until morning. I still felt weak, but it was difficult to tell whether that was because of the effort of using my power or because of the lingering damage of the Locker.
My stomach growled, reminding me that it was almost two in the afternoon and that, powers or not, my body needed food. Putting the computer on standby, I made my way downstairs. I clung to the railing and took care with every step, just in case (I hadn't had a fainting episode since leaving the hospital, but I'd been warned that was a possibility). The dissonance between the frailty of my human body and Lasombra's sheer strength was jarring, but I made it to the kitchen without issues.
Dad was back at work, so I was alone in the house. He'd left food in the fridge for me, along with the medicine I needed to take, and promised that he would be back by 6 PM (he'd told me with an embarrassed smile that his co-workers had all but threatened to throw him out of the office if he showed even a hint of doing overtime while I was still recovering).
I caught my reflection in the mirror as I re-heated my lunch, and was startled to find that I was smiling. How long had it been since I'd done that ?
I knew the answer, of course. Too long. But getting powers, even if what had been required to get them had been hellish, was still the best thing that had happened to me in a long, long time. In the last week, the problems which had dominated my life for years had disappeared, I'd been able to do genuine good for the city, and I was preparing to do more in the future.
There were challenges ahead, sure. But I felt like I could tackle them on, and that made all the difference.
In one timeline, Commander Thomas Calvert was working at his desk inside the PRT headquarters of Brockton Bay. In another, the supervillain Coil was sitting inside his underground base, going over a series of reports from his organization. Later tonight, barring extraordinary circumstances, he would collapse the timeline where he had remained in his base : he might be only a consultant for the PRT, but missing too many days would draw the kind of attention he didn't want, especially in the current situation.
After the capture of the two ABB capes, all hands were on deck at the PRT to ensure the other gangs of the Bay didn't take advantage of the chaos. Which was deliciously ironic, since that was precisely what Coil intended to do.
Since his arrival in the Bay, Coil had established himself as a shadow eminence in the city's balance of power. He'd used his contacts in the PRT, both legitimate and otherwise, to subtly play the various factions against one another. He'd kept either of the ABB and E88 from achieving dominance, while slowly eroding the PRT's image through a long series of failures, none of which were suspicious on their own. Most recently, his attempt to discredit the PRT by leaking the story of Shadow Stalker's schoolyard indiscretion had borne fruit, leading to him collapsing the timeline where he hadn't leaked that information to the Empire.
He'd been caught several times before, and things had gone badly for him very quickly each time. For all their mutual antipathy, Coil knew Piggot was competent at her job, and she had the likes of Armsmaster and Assault working with her. But the beauty of his power was that it allowed him to simply give up on whatever scheme had pushed his luck too far and try again with another approach, until he finally succeeded. Running his power uninterrupted for several days eventually strained him, but even with these limitations, it was still incredibly useful, and well worth the price he'd paid Cauldron for it.
That delicate balance had been thrown out the window by Lung's capture, of course. His plan to slowly whittle down the PRT and Protectorate's image by playing them against the various gangs was in tatters with the ABB was effectively defunct. Oh, there were still many members of the gang prowling the streets, but without Lung to unify them, they were certain to split up sooner or later – and if they didn't, the Empire would sweep in and crush them with their own capes.
Both Lung and Oni Lee were going to the Birdcage. They had substantial rap sheets, and Lung's refusal to attend any Endbringer fight since his showdown with Leviathan at Kyushu meant that he wouldn't get the leniency that might otherwise have been granted to him. Given their threat level, they had been airlifted from the Rig by Dragon-controlled aircraft and shipped off directly to the Birdcage, so even if Coil had wanted to arrange for their escape, he couldn't. The only way would be to orchestrate some kind of direct assault on the Protectorate headquarters to break into the cells, and that wasn't worth the risk.
But Coil was nothing if not willing to adapt to changing circumstances. Rather than bemoan the collapse of his long-term schemes, he focused instead on Lasombra.
The new cape, capable of defeating Lung in single combat, was a rogue element. For all his personal power, Lung had been predictable and relatively easy to manipulate using carefully crafted provocations (and when they didn't work, well, that was what Coil's power was for). But Lasombra wasn't. The cape had gone from rescuing some nobody from a mugging by three Empire thugs to decapitating the ABB in one stroke.
As a rule, independent heroes tended not to live long in Brockton Bay. If they didn't run afoul of Lung or Oni Lee, the E88 wasn't shy about using its influence to discover their civilian identities and go after them that way, killing the men and sending the women to Gesellschaft for use in their breeding program. The former was no longer a threat, but depending on the details of Lasombra's powers, the latter might very well still be. Coil knew that, even now, the leaders of the Empire would be working hard to get as much information on Lasombra as they could in case he went after them next.
Which Lasombra surely would. It was clear from the PRT report Calvert was reading that the cape had heroic delusions, given he'd risked a fight with Lung to rescue a bunch of nobodies from a ABB brothel. Maybe he'd go after the Merchants next, but somehow Coil didn't see Skidmark succeed where Lung had failed, meaning that the Empire would fall into his sights sooner or later. Coil's own activities were sufficiently obscure and low-profile that he shouldn't draw the attention of a would-be savior of Brockton Bay.
And realistically, there was only one way a confrontation between Lasombra and the Empire could end. No matter how powerful Lasombra was (which was still up for debate, as they only had the testimony of a handful of civilians and the analysis of the collateral damage to go on), all parahumans had their weaknesses – yes, even Coil. The Empire had enough capes available, with the ability to call more into the city from their contacts elsewhere in the United States and beyond, that they were sure to figure out a counter to Lasombra's abilities eventually.
But Coil had no desire to let such a potentially useful pawn fall through his fingers if he could help it. Once he took over the city, someone with Lasombra's raw power would be invaluable in maintaining order.
Having made his decision, the Coil who was in his base of operations picked up his phone and called one of the memorized numbers. It was picked up with gratifying speed.
"Yeah ?" said the voice of a young woman, tinted with just a hint of dread that delighted the supervillain.
"I have a job for you, Tattletale," he said with false gentleness that he knew she could see through without effort.
"What is it ?" the Thinker replied, not doing as good a job of hiding her anger at the nickname as she thought she was.
"You have heard of Lasombra ?" he asked.
"What ? The newest cape on the bloc, came out of nowhere and took down Lung and Oni Lee ? No idea who you're talking about, boss."
Coil smiled, allowing her that little bit of defiance, knowing that not reacting to it would only annoy her more.
"I need you to find out everything you can about him. Powers, motivations, goals, everything. You have two weeks."
"I'll get it done in one, boss," she boasted.
"I'm sure you will," replied Coil before hanging up on her.
After a couple more hours of not-so-honest work, Calvert clocked out and left the PRT headquarters. Once he was home, he pulled out one of the several burner phones he kept in his residence and put in the same number he'd called in earlier today in his other timeline.
"What's up, boss ?"
"Hello, pet. I have a job for you. I need you to find everything you can about Lasombra and send it to me. You have one week."
"That's not a lot of time, boss," she said warily.
"Ah, but you've already started, haven't you ? Your curiosity couldn't resist investigating such a mystery. I have complete confidence in your skills."
Coil smiled as he hung up before his pet could reply. Taunting Tattletale with information he'd gained through his power never ceased to amuse him, and it kept his pet on her toes. Though it might look unimpressive at first glance, her power would score very high on the Protectorate's Thinker scale if the organization was allowed to realize her true value.
He collapsed the timeline where he'd stayed at his base all day, and immediately split it again. In one timeline, he stayed home, while in the other, he made his way back to his base. He'd learned early in his career as a supervillain to put distance between his two selves – you never knew when random chance would strike. His power was useless if he was stuck in a situation with absolutely no way out, which was why he always made sure to keep a safe timeline he could retreat to if his active one got threatened.
Being cautious and playing the long game was how he would overcome all his adversaries in time, be it by destroying them or turning them into assets, and Lasombra would be no different.
Kenta woke.
He was bound in metal chains so thick he couldn't hope to break free, and judging by the vibrations of the floor, was in some kind of aircraft. His mind was clouded, but it didn't take a genius to realize what had happened.
He had lost, and the Protectorate was taking him to the Birdcage. Looking around – there was another collar around his neck, but he could still turn his head slightly – he saw Oni Lee laying in similar restraints, killing any hope of being rescued before it had time to take root.
The slight motion was enough to make him wince, as his body hurt all over. He wasn't used to such lingering pain : his injuries would usually have healed by now. Presumably the drugs being injected into his bloodstream through several IVs he could see included some kind of anti-regeneration cocktail along with the calming ones designed to keep him from activating his power and tearing himself free of his restraints.
"Kenta, cape name Lung," said a feminine voice through unseen speakers. "You are awake."
"I am," he replied. "You are the one called Dragon, correct ?"
It irked him that a mere Tinker had been deemed worthy of such a grand name, no matter how influential she might be. A real dragon wouldn't have bowed to the petty authorities of mortal men like she did, nor would they operate solely through remotely-controlled puppets of metal.
"Yes. You and your accomplice Oni Lee are currently en route to the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center. If you're expecting a rescue by the ABB, be aware that the gang has already collapsed into feuding factions since your defeat and capture."
"I see."
That wasn't surprising. Kenta had forged the ABB from the various Asian gangs that had existed in Brockton Bay before his arrival, using his own personal power to force them to ignore their existing hatreds and prejudices against each other.
As a half-Chinese, half-Japanese child, he had spent much of his childhood suffering from discrimination as a result. He'd taken great pleasure in using his power to force the rival gangs into a single, pan-Asian group, and watching as former rivals were forced to work together under threat of his wrath.
He chuckled.
"I find it difficult to imagine anything funny about your situation," said Dragon.
"Then you lack imagination, Tinker," replied Kenta. "After all these years of the Protectorate trying and failing to arrest me, it was a newcomer who defeated me."
"You speak of the cape known as Lasombra ?"
"Lasombra," Kenta repeated the name of his vanquisher, tasting it. "Is that what he's called ? Appropriate enough, I suppose."
Not that Kenta could throw stones, given that his own cape name more or less translated to 'Dragon'. But he wondered why he'd never heard of such a cape before finding him in his brothel. He found it hard to believe that someone who fought with such ferocity and skill would be newly come unto his power. Then again, Kenta had never been interested in what went on beyond the borders of his kingdom : it was all too possible Lasombra had come to Brockton Bay from afar for one reason or another.
"Is there any message you wish me to pass to your associates ?" asked Dragon. "The law demands that I give you this opportunity."
Kenta was silent for a time. He remembered the strength behind Lasombra's blows. He remembered the unnatural cold which had smothered his flames. Most of all, he remembered laying on the ground, and the shapes he had glimpsed in the depths of the other cape's faceless visage.
He forced himself not to tremble with remembered dread. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that the craft was full of sensory devices which would've picked up on it, and his pride kept him from showing weakness, even in defeat.
"Last I heard," he said, "Armsmaster was the Protectorate leader in Brockton Bay. Is that still the case ?"
"Yes," replied Dragon, and Kenta sensed a degree of edginess in her voice, even through the filter of the speakers. Right, the two Tinkers were supposed to be close, according to the gossip he'd overheard some of his servants exchange while in his earshot.
Well, that made it even better. Kenta wasn't above recognizing a certain degree of pettiness in his own character.
"Then I do have a message for him. We were enemies, but that is a form of association, isn't it ?" He forced himself to chuckle, refusing to let the unease his recollection had brought upon him show.
"That is within the law's parameters. Give me your message, and I'll pass it along," said Dragon.
Again, Kenta took his time considering his words. He didn't want to lie : in all likelihood, these would be his last words outside of the Birdcage. His honor demanded that they be truthful.
"Tell him this : Lasombra is not what he thinks he is."
There was a pause. Then Dragon asked : "That's all ?"
"Yes," replied Kenta, showing his teeth in a parody of a smile for the benefit of the hidden cameras through which the Tinker was watching. "That's all."
To her credit, Dragon didn't try to get more details out of him. Let them chew on it, and wonder what he meant. They would learn, in time, just how dangerous this new cape really was, and they would understand just how such a young cape had managed to defeat one such as he. If Birdcage inmates were allowed news from the rest of the world, Kenta reflected, then it would be interesting to see how things panned out from here.
But at the very least, Kenta would be safe from the fallout.
"Following a tense stand-off that lasted for the last week, the Cornell Bomber was successfully arrested today.
The mad Tinker had planted bombs all across campus and was threatening to detonate them should her demands not be met, taking the entire student population and faculty hostage.
With the support of a team of heroes dispatched from New York by Legend, the bomb tinker was successfully arrested …"
From The New York Times, January 10th, 2011.
AN : This chapter was already almost done when I published the previous one, but halfway through putting the finishing touches, I realized that somehow, I seem to have made Taylor a more heroic, less self-centered version of Ciaphas Cain. Or, perhaps more accurately, I've given her the same kind of Misunderstanding Field he has. Huh. That wasn't planned, but maybe it will bring some much-needed levity to an otherwise rather serious story.
Lasombra's updated power ratings are based on my limited knowledge of the lore and a quick browsing of the wiki. I'm open to suggestions for corrections, as the characters know their business better than I do.
And yes, that last bit is about the cape who, in the original timeline, would become Bakuda and lead a campaign of terror across Brockton Bay. I didn't find a precise date for her attempt to take over Cornell University, but without Lung to bail her out and bring her with him to Brockton Bay, she ended up arrested. Funny how butterflies work.
You may now play the world's tiniest violin.
Also, yes, this story uses elements of fanon rather than strictly adhering to canon. I use the wiki as a source a lot, but I've read a lot more fanfic of Worm than canon material, so that was probably inevitable.
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and look forward to your thoughts and comments.
Zahariel out.Last edited: 4/7/2025 Award Quote Reply909Zahariel3/7/2025Reader mode